In the 1990s there was hardly any coaching centre available around Dhaka. The business of coaching flourished overnight after 2000 and now it has become a money spinner all over the country. Particularly there has been a mushroom growth of coaching centres in and around Dhaka.
The court issued a rule in October 2011 asking the Ministry of Education to explain why coaching business should not be banned. In response to court orders the education ministry issued instructions in June, 2012 'to stop teachers' from being involved in coaching business in educational institutions'.
That made very little impact on the overall situation and coaching centres are doing brisk business everywhere in the country.
As the business is going on in residential areas where house rent is relatively lower than that in commercial areas, number of cars parked throughout the day for bringing in and taking away students is causing serious traffic jam.
Complaints have been made by residents of the concerned residential areas against the coaching centres in residential areas, but nobody came forward to address the issue.
The most disturbing aspect of the fact is that the coaching houses are doing the business in defiance of government orders which clearly forbid coaching or tuition by teachers of schools, colleges and madrassahs of students of their own institutions. But nobody seems to pay heed to government orders and coaching business is going on unabated.
It may be mentioned that the education ministry in 2012 provided a guideline in an attempt 'to stop teachers' from coaching in educational institutions' and issued a circular in that year to all schools, colleges and madrasahs after the High Court in October 2011 had issued notice asking the ministry to explain why coaching business should not be banned.
The government guideline stated that teachers at schools, colleges and madrasahs would not be allowed to provide coaching and private tuition to students of their own institutions, but they may take extra classes in exchange for a fee at their relevant institution.
According to the guidelines issued by the government, teachers cannot charge more than Tk 300 for extra coaching from a student in metropolitan areas, Tk 200 in district towns and Tk150 in Upazilas and unions.
On the other hand, a student cannot be forced by teachers to attend the extra classes. It is also clearly stated in the government guidelines that teachers can in no way be involved in commercial coaching centres and are liable to be dismissed and their MPO facilities could be withdrawn in case of violation of the guidelines.
As a matter of fact, coaching business cannot be justified in any way and should be stopped forthwith. The education ministry should take immediate and appropriate steps to eliminate this illegal business from the education sector.
Shoibal Sami Mustafa
Content Writer, NRBJobs Limited
shoibal.mustafa@gmail.com
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